


Flash Fanfiction - Episode 31 - Nightfall

by Mindmarvel



Series: Flash Fanfic Introducing Mind Marvel [31]
Category: DC Comics, The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 21:43:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14066199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mindmarvel/pseuds/Mindmarvel
Summary: When meta-humans begin to go missing across Central City, a mysterious darkness takes over. It seems its the end of Central city as the team know it. Team Flash rope in some extra allies for what could be the end of Central City. Snowbarry moments, cliffhangers and a regular character dies.





	1. Chapter 1

Barry rushed through Captain Singh's office, once again late for work. "Barry… for the fastest man alive, I wish that you would use that speed for your own benefit and turn up to work on time for once." Captain Singh said, "But, in saying that, on my way to pick up my double-shot espresso, I must say that I was impressed to see a couple of criminals tied up right before my very eyes, by a streak of red… so I'll let it slide, this time… just please try and be here, early tomorrow morning."  
Barry nodded, "I can always try, sir." He replied, with a smug grin, just as Joe entered the office, closing the door behind him.

"Good, now that the two of you are both here." Captain Singh said, shuffling a few things around on his desk, "Something's been going on which I can't quite put my finger on. The crime rate in our city has dropped dramatically… and I'm not sure if that has been thanks to our scarlet speedster and his team, or…"  
"I agree," Barry said as he looked over Joe's shoulder to ensure that no one was listening in, and then turned back to Captain Singh. "Normally, the Flash prefers to target meta-humans… but lately, I'm not finding any… This past month, it's like they have all been vanishing." Barry said under his breath.

"What are the two you getting at, here?" Joe asked them. "I'm thinking, low crime rate… that's good, it means we're all doing our job. Central City a is much safer city."  
"That's what I thought too…" David Singh said, "Which would be great, considering I have my wedding this weekend, and I would love to not be pestered. But, it's like something big is coming our way and I just can't shake it… and I normally pride myself on being a rational thinking man."  
Barry nodded. "I can always get my friends down at STAR Labs to…"

"…To look into it? Thanks, Barry! Alert me on your findings. Joe, I need you to keep your ear to the ground. Send out a bunch of feelers. There has to be something going down in my city." Captain Singh said, waving them both out of his office.  
As Barry and Joe left the office, Joe turned to Barry and asked, "It seems that ever since you moved out, I never see you, son. How has everything been with you?"  
"Everything's been great, Joe. I was actually thinking of having everyone around for a dinner, tonight. You know to catch up." Barry replied.

"You won't be cooking, will you? Because I remember the last time you tried to cook…" Joe laughed as he remembered a time that Barry had almost set the house alight.  
"You'd be surprised. I've actually picked up a few things. I've even been studying recipe books. Sure, there's been a lot of trial and error… but Caitlin has been willing to taste test all of my cooking, until I get it right."

"I suppose that it helps with her being a doctor and all… at least she knows what to do when it comes to food poisoning." Joe joked.  
"Yeah… there's that. So, what do you say? How bout you, Iris and Wally come round tonight?" Barry asked hopeful.  
"Sure, we'll be around at six. See you then… Now you should probably head up to STAR Labs, just to check on Captain Singh's notion about this city being too quiet." Joe said as he led Barry out to the elevator.

"I'll get right on it." Barry answered, swinging his backpack over his shoulder and stepping into the elevator.  
"Oh and Barry? Say hi to them for me."  
"I will, Joe." Barry replied, before the elevator doors closed.  
"Now, Frost for this to work, I really need you to cooperate with me, here." Astrid said as she sat across from the white haired version of her friend Caitlin.  
"It's Killer Frost…" Frost said, "this isn't going to work, Sutherland." She stood up and went to storm out of the office, driven to act out her vengeance on Harry. "We're wasting time here, when I should be out there taking down that murderer…"

Before Frost could open the door, Astrid released a mild mind scream into Frost's head.  
"Owww!" Frost groaned as she was brought down to her knees. "Must you do that?" she snapped at Astrid. She went to release an ice blast but Astrid brought the pain up a notch.  
"Sit back down. We're doing this, regardless of what the rest of the group might think… I will not quit on you. Besides, you're not a killer, so I'm not going to refer to you, as one. You're angry, I get that… so you are going to talk to me. Otherwise, you know the consequences…" Astrid pointed Frost back to the seat and stopped the mind scream, so Frost reluctantly took her seat again.

Barry entered the cortex to find Cisco loitering outside Astrid's door. "What's going on?" Barry asked him.  
Cisco brought his finger to his lips, gesturing for Barry to be quiet. "Astrid's putting Frost through therapy. She's going all Dr Phil on her."  
"Yeah, I don't think that hanging around the doorway is such a good idea, Cisco." Barry replied. The two of them headed over to the computer desk as Cisco replied, "You sound like Harry. But how else will we be prepared if Elsa goes all Frosty on us again?"

"I'm pretty sure that Astrid has it covered. I've had to sit in on one of her interrogations, she's pretty good… and if things get out of control, she always has her mind scream."  
"Which would most likely be like one big brain freeze in Frost's case... Do you like what I did there? Because, you know Frost... and the mind scream thing?" Cisco asked his friend, with a smirk.  
Barry stared at Cisco, not laughing, and changed the subject. "I'm actually here on a notion of Captain Singh's. He's concerned that the crime rate has dropped dramatically as of late."

"You're serious? Shouldn't that make the man happy? I mean, I for one am thrilled that I get to take a little down time. Yesterday, I got through the entire Lord of the Rings movies… as well as the hobbit… and the special features!" Cisco said.  
"Cisco, this is serious." Barry replied.  
"Yeah, I take my special features very seriously! Just ask Astrid, she knows." Cisco said.  
"Yeah, he does take them very seriously." Astrid spoke as she and Caitlin entered the room, making Barry and Cisco both turn to them. "So, why are we talking about special features?" she asked.

"Captain Singh is concerned that Central City's crime rate has dropped," Barry said, "Well, the crime rate in relation to meta-villains has dropped."  
Caitlin and Astrid looked at them confused, the two subjects were entirely separate from one another. Nonetheless, Astrid addressed Barry's topic, "I don't know why I didn't notice this sooner. We have been much lighter on the work load, lately." She replied.  
"…And there have been a lot less meta-humans throughout the city." Caitlin added.  
"Why is this even a problem?" Cisco asked them, "I think we all deserve a break."

"Because…" Caitlin began, "The less meta-human activity there is, could point to there actually being a lot less meta-humans out in Central City, and in a city that is generally booming with meta-human activity… it leaves us with one question."  
"Where are all the meta-humans?" Cisco asked softly.


	2. Chapter 2

Astrid sat beside Cisco at his desk and ran her mind scan. "I just ran a scan throughout Central city. I didn't pick up anything suspicious… except that there's definitely an absence in meta-human mind activity, right now. As in, they certainly aren't in the city!" She said.  
"That's definitely something to go on... Where would they go?" Barry asked.  
"Maybe they just went on holiday?" Caitlin suggested, trying to be optimistic.

"I'm running a scan on Central City residents who were affected by the meteor shower." Cisco said as he typed as fast as he could at his computer. "…Wow… there was certainly quite a few… and… yeah, that must be some holiday… because look how many of them have been considered missing without telling a single soul, I'm curious as to what the lure might be. Maybe beaches? Beautiful women? Not that we don't have that second option right here."

Astrid sent a look in his direction, but he smiled back at her in response. The group looked at the screen in front of him. "It seems like they've all been going missing over a period of time, to make it seem a lot less obvious." Barry replied.  
"…and look at this…" Cisco said, "some of the ones that we have helped over time have gone missing, too." He clicked on a name. Shawna Baez, also known to the group as Peek-a-boo was amongst those missing.

Barry's phone rang, so he pulled it out of his pocket and answered it, putting Joe immediately on to speaker. "Hi, Joe. I'm over at STAR Labs, now." He began.  
"Good, do you guys have power over there?" Joe asked, the man sounded panicked.  
"Yeah, of course we do, why?"

"I take it that you haven't looked outside at all in the last two minutes or so?" Joe asked them. The group looked over at the window and realized what Joe had been referring to.  
The group were shocked, as they raced towards the window to see nothing but pure darkness.  
"You guys… how much time has passed?" Cisco asked them, "My phone still says its only eleven in the morning."

"That's what I was referring to." Joe said, the sky has gone dark and Captain Singh just sent a few men to power up CCPD's generators."  
"First, we have missing metas, and now the sky's gone dark… Is anyone else thinking that it's quite possibly the end of the world? I'm not scared at all." Cisco lied.  
"Joe, does Singh have any theories?" Astrid asked determined to find out the answer.  
"No, that's why I called." Joe answered.

"Look, we'll get on it as soon as possible." Barry said. "Leave it with us, Joe." He ended the call and asked, "Has anyone seen Harry? Maybe the World Walker has a theory."  
"He was sitting a board meeting, for me." Astrid said, "He should be here soon."  
Ever since Astrid's ordeal with Dr Psycho, a month ago, she hadn't really been out in public too often, due to her lowered self-esteem in relation to her facial scars. Which included going to her board meetings.

Just as she had spoken, Harry emerged in to the cortex. "We have a problem!" he announced on his entrance. He stormed towards the group.  
"When don't we? We've already noticed the black skies out there. It's night time at only eleven in the morning." Cisco said.  
"Do any of you have any theories as to what could have caused that?" Harry asked them.  
"We were sort of hoping that you might know something." Caitlin replied. "it's a little out of our jurisdiction."

"It could be some kind of eclipse… but it's gone for far too long… it could be…" Harry began listing theories in his mind, trying to make sense of it all.  
"Could it have something to do with the missing meta-humans?" Astrid asked.  
"Missing meta-humans?" Harry asked them confused.

"Yeah… a whole bunch of our fellow super-beings have been going missing. We've been thinking some kind of really fun holiday that we never got the invite to." Cisco joked.  
"That's not good." Harry said.  
"We didn't think so either, now CCPD are relying on generators… and something tells me its all about to get a lot worse." Barry said.  
He remembered the pocket dimension, in the alternate timeline, the sky had gone blood red, but it was not like this. He needed to ask Harry, or even DR Fate if they thought that it might have something to do with the Lords of Chaos.

"Give me some time, I'll see what I can come up with." Harry said as he took off, into his office.  
"While he does that," Astrid began, "Cisco can you look into those missing meta-humans for me? There has to be some kind of lead that we're missing. I'll run another scan. Gideon, I need you to inform our employees that this darkness isn't anything to be frightened of."  
"Right away, Miss Sutherland." Gideon replied.

Barry trailed into Harry's office and closed the door behind him. "Harry, would DR Fate know anything about this? Would it have something to do with the Lords of Chaos, by any chance?"  
"I haven't seen him since just after Astrid was kidnapped. Kent was ready to tell Astrid who he really was. But if anyone knows, it would have to be him." Harry said, frustrated that he didn't hold the answers.

"I'm surprised that with all your experience on other the earths that you don't have any theories…" Barry wondered out loud.  
"Actually, I have many theories, as to why the sky has gone black, Allen… unfortunately, none of them are good. They all point to this being the end of civilization as we know it. But I'm going to continue to chase up leads while we still have electricity. You see… the power has only been dampened on one side of town… But the darkness has been spread throughout Central City…" He stopped talking and stared blankly at Barry.  
"I'm listening…" Barry said, waiting for Harry to continue.

Harry stormed back out of his office and made his way to Cisco. "Ramon, pull up all current footage of Star City, would you?" Harry demanded of him.  
"I don't see how Star City has anythi…" Cisco began to argue.  
"Just do it, Ramon!" Dr Wells snapped at him, making him jump into action.  
"Okay, Star city has… blue skies?…" Cisco said, in confusion.  
"Okay, now pull up Gotham City." Harry added, at this point Caitlin, Astrid and Barry were all standing around them.  
Cisco pulled up the footage on Gotham City. They were also in daylight, well as light as Gotham's city's day could get.

"Now run searches on Keystone, Blue Valley, Metropolis… I want a full scan of every place that you can think of Ramon!" Harry ordered, there was a slight hint of optimism in his voice of authority.  
"All those cities have daylight." Cisco said, all the more confused.  
Harry nodded, "So whatever… or whoever we're dealing with is in Central City. We're the targets." He said with a grin.  
"How is that a good thing, Harry?" Astrid asked, "Whatever we're up against has just taken away our sunlight. Them targeting us, means that we are the only ones left to fight them. Especially because we have no other meta-humans in this city. Not to mention our other friends are probably somewhere lost throughout time… possibly dealing with the dinosaurs or something."

"One thing at a time, Sutherland." Harry said. He stormed away from the group making his way towards the elevator.  
"Where are you going?" Caitlin called out.  
"I'm going outside." Harry called back over his shoulder.  
"Wait, Harry." Cisco called out, "I'll breach us there. Let's go, you guys!"  
Barry looked at Caitlin and Astrid. "Alright, you girls heard them."  
"I'm fine staying here." Astrid said quickly.

"Astrid," Barry began, "You haven't been out in public in over a month, I understand that you're still a little concerned after what happened to you. But, you're going to be fine."  
"You have no idea what I am going through, Barry! What that man did! Look at me, I am covered in scars!" Astrid snapped.  
Cisco stepped towards them, "Astrid, you could wear a bag over your head and you would still be beautiful. Why are you so afraid?" he asked her.  
"I get it." Barry began, "Look how many times I have fallen, or made a mistake. You have seen Iris' articles about you, right? the fact that you have gone through as much as you have and have remained standing is amazing. You're an inspiration to everyone around you. Your wounds and scars show that you have fought your way to the top. Don't let them hold you back."

"Wow, Barry." Astrid said with a smirk. "I thought I was the psychologist, here."  
"So, what do you say? Are you coming with us?" he asked her with a grin.  
Cisco and Caitlin stared at them. they were both willing to stay behind if Astrid refused to go.  
"Alright, Barry. Let's do this!" Astrid said with a smile.  
The group put on their suits, travelled through the breach and outside into the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

As the five of them arrived onto the darkened, though still busy, street, The Flash had already assisted with a car accident getting the passengers out to safety before impact.  
When he returned back to the rest of his group, who stood in the shadows out of the public eye, he asked Astrid if she had picked up on anything using her mind scan.  
She continued to focus on anything that would give her some sort of a clue. "Still nothing…" she said frustrated. "There's a lot of panicked people… They're all scared! But I don't know what I'm looking for. If you think that this was caused by someone… I'm not picking up on anything that tells me that."

"No, that just doesn't make sense, Sutherland." Harry replied, "try harder! It has to be caused by someone or something!"  
"Harry! I'm trying as hard as I can!" Astrid snapped back.  
"Get off her case," Cisco said, looking up at the sky. "Astrid, do you still have access to your dad's helicopter?"  
"We will have to get in contact with my father's old pilot, but that shouldn't be so hard. Why? What are you suggesting?" she asked him.

"Well, one thing I've noticed, is that there are no stars! So, if we fly up and around Central City's outskirts. Maybe we can see where the darkness ends. Maybe someone has thrown a huge blanket over our city." He suggested.  
"A blanket, Cisco?" Caitlin asked.  
"It seemed a lot less, scarier than the other theories that came to mind." Cisco shrugged.  
"I wasn't expecting an idea like that to come from you, Ramon. Good thinking." Harry said.

Cisco stared at him, annoyed that he had both insulted and complimented him at the same time. Nonetheless, he took it as a compliment.  
"Cisco, can you locate the number of my dad's old pilot?" Astrid asked, "I haven't needed the chopper, so I seem to have lost his number over time"  
"That I can do." He said with a smile, he held his tablet in his hands and began searching.  
"You guys?" Caitlin spoke up, "Did it just get a lot darker?"  
"You noticed that too?" Barry asked her.

The group looked around them, the street lights had turned off, showering them in an even thicker blanket of darkness, except for Cisco's tablet, the group's phones and a few torches on the streets.  
There was a loud bang, followed by a smash. The group looked up to see another car crash. Harry shun his large torch, helping the Flash get all the passengers to safety.  
"Okay, I found his number." Cisco said as he called the pilot. He arranged for an instant pick up from the rooftop of STAR Labs, then breached the group back to cortex.  
Within half an hour, the group had put on their regular clothes and were in the chopper flying upwards and in a northerly direction of the city. "It's hard to believe its midday." The pilot said.

"You're telling me." Barry replied, sitting beside him.  
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, in a city like this. Even before Smallville's meteor shower, Central City has been a magnet for the strange and impossible. I wish I knew why."  
Barry nodded, he wished that he did too.

On the benches of the helicopter, Dr Wells, Caitlin, Cisco and Astrid sat. "Woah, this baby is beeping off the charts." Cisco said, referring to the tool in his hands. It was a device to monitor unusual activity.  
"Astrid, maybe you should run your mind scan?" Caitlin suggested. She was sitting across from Astrid and Cisco, and beside Harry.  
"It couldn't hurt," Astrid replied. She closed her eyes to focus better, and immediately picked up on something. "Wow, I think I'm getting something." She said as she opened her eyes, surprised.

Before she could explain, the helicopter jolted. "What's going on?" she called out to the pilot, she was reminded of the time that she had been stuck in the elevator with Barry.  
"Don't worry, Miss Sutherland. We're just experiencing some technical difficulties." The pilot replied through their speakers. He sounded confident.  
The helicopter jolted again, and Cisco took a hold of Astrid's hand to comfort her. "Are you alright?" he asked her.  
"I'm okay. Just a little PTSD, from that time in the elevator," she replied.

Suddenly, there was a violent shake of the helicopter. The propeller had stopped spinning, leaving nothing holding the helicopter up in midair. It immediately began to plummet from the sky.  
Barry knocked out the pilot, to not give away his true identity, unbuckled him from his seat and dragged him from the chopper. He jumped and ran across every building that he came across, as fast as he could, faster than the helicopter could fall.

Once he made it to the ground, he laid the pilot securely by a dumpster and ran towards the building where the helicopter was about to crash.  
He made his way up and stood on the rooftop, ready to make a large jump to the helicopter to save his friends. While he was there, he saw the figure of a hooded woman, draped in black, flying beside it.

Nonetheless he made the jump. The helicopter was still roughly 150 feet high, above him. He knew that he could make it in time, but he couldn't stop the impact that the crash would have.  
The woman saw him and as time sped up again, it looked as if she had thrown something dark at him. To protect himself, Barry darted out of the way of the black projectile that was coming in his direction. Then he ran towards the woman, to knock her back before she could do something to the helicopter. But as he ran, he felt his speed diminishing. She seemed to be absorbing it. "What the hell?" Barry exclaimed.

From the moment that the helicopter had begun to fall from the sky, Cisco was not going to sit around and do nothing. He formed a breach in the middle of the floor, between the four of them, with his free hand.  
"Let's go, you guys!" He demanded. They dove into the breach, first Caitlin, then Harry, then Astrid and Cisco, without a second thought. They landed on the floor of the street, escaping with only minor grazes.  
"Is everyone okay?" Astrid asked, as she got to her feet.

Caitlin held up the light of her phone, the four of them all seemed fine. "I think we're all okay. But, where's Barry?" she demanded. They all looked up into the sky, to see the helicopter that they had just been in, crash into a building.  
"Caitlin... Barry's the fastest man alive. I'm certain that he would have gotten out in time." Cisco assured her, putting his arm around her.  
Astrid ran a mind scan, monitoring for Barry's thoughts. She was concerned that she couldn't pick them up. "Harry, can you take Caitlin back to STAR Labs? Maybe Barry is back there waiting for us, already." She said.

Caitlin knew that Astrid was trying to hide something from her, regardless, she felt that if Barry had been injured, he would indeed return to STAR Labs in search for them. So she and Harry left, making their way back to STAR Labs.  
Once Caitlin and Dr Wells had left, Astrid turned to Cisco. "I couldn't read his thoughts. I need you to breach us up there asap!"  
"Done, and done." Cisco said as he brought up his breach. The pair of them ran through it.


	4. Chapter 4

"Don't think that I don't know, what they were doing sending us back here!" Caitlin snapped, as she and Harry made it back to STAR Labs. Once they entered the cortex, Gideon gave them the news that the power had gone out and that the emergency generators were up and running.

"I apologize that I don't have the patience to console you because none of you know if Allen is okay." Harry said, "Right now, we have much more pressing matters to deal with. We need to determine what is causing that darkness and now the power failure. Aliens maybe? But that helicopter… it was like the propeller had just stopped spinning and it fell from the sky. So whatever this thing is, it's effecting our energy sources."

"I just don't understand why Barry didn't manage to save us in time…" Caitlin vented out loud, not really listening to Harry. "Maybe he tried to save us, and we were already gone. But he would have found us by now. He's the fastest man alive." She said as she slumped into the chair at the computer desk. She was concerned for Barry's welfare and none of them were wearing communicators. She felt useless.

Astrid and Cisco reached the rooftop and were met by the helicopter burning up, setting the building a light. "Vibe, you need to get everybody out of the building, now!" Astrid demanded of him.  
"No, I'm not leaving you, here!" Cisco yelled back, annoyed that she was risking her life again.  
"Vibe, I can sense The Flash's thoughts here on the rooftop. He's in trouble, let me find him. Just breach to the floors and send the workers to safety, Don't argue with me!" Astrid snapped.

Cisco gave her a kiss on the lips, told her to 'stay safe' and breached himself to the lower floors, leaving Astrid alone to locate Barry. She ran towards the wreckage, covering her nose and her mouth within her shirt to avoid breathing in the smoke. The flames acted as a beacon, lighting up the rooftop around her.  
"Flash! Where are you?" she called out, through her shirt. His thoughts were telling her that he was unconscious, but he was still close by. Fortunately, she couldn't sense anybody else around. "Flash! Wherever you are, I need you to wake up!" She demanded. She was trying to will him to do so, with her mind.

All of a sudden, something moving caught her attention and she knew that it was Barry, moving from under sheets of metal. "Flash!" she yelled out running over to him. She couldn't pull the metal off him as it was too heavy. It was resting on his leg. "Barry, you need to phase out!" she told him.  
"Astrid! I can't!" He said, "I've lost my powers… and I think my leg is broken."

"What do you mean?" she asked, trying to move the metal. "How could you lose your powers? How could your leg be broken?"  
Fortunately, Cisco had arrived just in time. "Vibe, he's over here!" Astrid called out, "We need your help, we can't move this metal!"  
Cisco ran over to them and the three of them began pushing on the large metal, that had Barry pinned.  
It finally budged, but it took all their strength to move it. Barry yelled out in pain as his leg hurt uncontrollably. Nonetheless, he leant on his friends for support as they assisted him up.

Astrid heard the thoughts the moment the woman arrived on to the scene, before they saw her. She pushed Barry on to Cisco to carry, and turned around to face the stranger.  
"Who are you?" She demanded of the woman who was dressed in nothing but a very skimpy outfit, which looked like a two piece bathing suit with a black hood. They couldn't see her face.

Astrid saw it in the stranger's mind before it happened. The stranger threw a blast of darkness at the three of them. "Cisco! Barry! Get down!" Astrid yelled, as the blast came straight for them, fortunately missing the lot of them. When they looked up, the woman was gone again.  
"That was some meta-human!" Cisco said, as he and Astrid helped Barry back up to his feet.

"She wasn't a meta-human, Cisco… well, not in the way that we are anyway. Her powers came from the bracelet that she was wearing!" Astrid replied.  
"She took my speed!" Barry said frustrated.  
"Seriously? that happens far too often…" Cisco said annoyed as he opened a breach with one hand and continued to assist Barry on the other arm.  
"Hey, I didn't even touch her. I don't know how she did it." Barry said annoyed.

The flames around them were beginning to grow out of control at this point. They knew that they didnt have much time left.  
"Let's just get back to STAR Labs and tell the others, before this place crumbles below our feet! Maybe Harry will have some ideas." Astrid said. She and Cisco escorted Barry through the breach back to STAR Labs.


	5. Chapter 5

As the breach appeared inside the cortex, Caitlin's attention was immediately brought to her friends assisting Barry out if it.  
"What happened to him?" she demanded of her friends.

"He's lost his powers, and we think his leg is broken." Astrid said immediately, as she and Cisco laid their friend down on the medical bay bed, so Caitlin could assess him.  
"I'm fine, Caitlin." Barry said, clutching his leg. The truth was he was hurting all over and his wounds weren't healing.  
"Barry, you have burns all over your face! Your wounds aren't healing. You're going to have to remove your suit and put on this gown, so I can check the full extent of the damage." Caitlin said using a tone that meant business.

"I don't have my powers so I'm going to need a little privacy," Barry said as he looked over at Cisco and Astrid, who were still standing by his bedside, concerned for him.  
"Yeah, we will just be going." Astrid said, taking Cisco by the hand. They left closing the curtain behind them, and went in search for Harry who was still in the cortex.  
Once Caitlin had helped Barry out of his suit and into the medical gown, she administered him with some pain relief in the form of an injection, making him grimace in pain.

"Sorry," she said softly. "I was so worried about you, Barry. How did you lose your speed?" she asked as she begun dressing his bleeding wounds to his face first.  
"I'm not sure. There was this woman, she was flying around the helicopter. She shot some sort of blast at me and when I ran to her… I didn't even need to touch her. It was like she was just absorbing them through the air, It's hard to explain!" Barry said.

Caitlin smiled at him, trying to assure him that everything would be okay. The truth is, she wasn't sure if they would be.  
"I can't move my leg, Caitlin. I think it really is broken." Barry said after a few moments. "The pain relief has kicked in, but my leg just isn't moving."  
"Let me see." She said, directing her attention to his shin.

She picked up a mini portable X-Ray device, an invention that Cisco had built a while back, and run a scan over Barry's leg. The bone was most certainly broken.  
Barry saw the image, the exact moment that she did.  
"Caitlin… I can't seem to heal my own body."

"I know, Barry. It's just a broken bone. I can help with that. It's going to be okay." She replied, optimistically, placing the X-Ray device on to the bed beside him. She picked up some bandages, ready to dress his leg.  
Barry took both of her hands in his, making her drop the bandages on to the floor. "No, Caitlin. What happens if I don't get my speed back? If I'm no longer the Flash? Will you still love me?"

Caitlin looked up at him and smiled. She sat beside him on the bed and said, "Barry, It might have been you becoming the Flash that brought us together, that made us meet. But It was you being Barry Allen, that made me fall in love with you. I saw the man behind the mask. I've already told you that. Even if you weren't the Flash… We would still make it work. I think that you and I might have the makings of something real, Mr Allen." she said with a grin.  
"Even if you have to continue wearing your necklace to keep Frost at bay?" Barry asked her.

"That especially… You're a speedster with a broken leg… so we both have our faults." Caitlin laughed, "But in all honesty, the way that Harry was acting earlier… I think that he is really concerned about this darkness. For something to be able to absorb light and your speed…" Caitlin's voice trailed off.  
"Yeah, I don't know how were going to be able to face this one, either. But I'm sure that Harry will think of something." Barry said as he stroked her hair behind her shoulder and kissed her.

Astrid and Cisco gave Harry a full explanation of what had happened to Barry, and about the girl that they had encountered. "She wasn't a meta-human, Harry. She got her powers from that bracelet that she was wearing." Astrid explained. She left out the crippling images of destruction that she had seen in that woman's mind. She didn't want to scare her friends.

"The Cadre!" Cisco and DR Wells said in unison.  
"The what?" Astrid asked them, as she was pulled from her thoughts.  
Cisco took it on himself to explain, "When you were in your coma, Barry was suffering from a major case of the Yips. So, Frost and I decided to take it on ourselves to protect the city for a day. We kicked ass and met a couple of guys… Crowbar and Fastball… they also got their powers from their bracelets. Just before you woke up, Harry was in the process of telling us about this gang that they were a part of…"

"They were following the orders of the Overmaster." Harry continued "An overpowered alien being who can destroy civilizations at his will if he deems them useless. Those bracelets are of his own creation, giving the wearers powers that will help in his mission. And I'm guessing that woman has absorbed all of Central City sunlight. Just as she can absorb kinetic energy…"

"Kinetic energy?" Astrid asked, "As in the energy that's produced by movement?"  
"That's precisely it Sutherland. That explains our helicopter, Barry's speed… It also means that it's only going to be a matter of time before our generators stop working too." Harry said.

"So… I'm going to use this reference again…" Cisco began, "We're sitting ducks… I don't want to be a sitting duck, waiting for Central City to be destroyed! What do we do?"  
Harry stared at them both. "We get the hell out of Central City!"  
"No!" We're not running!" Barry snapped out over them. Caitlin had opened the curtains and the two of them had overheard the conversation from the medical bay bed. Barry was holding a set of crutches, that Caitlin had given him.

"I get that you can't run, Allen. That wasn't where I was going with this!" Harry snapped. He, Cisco and Astrid walked over to Caitlin and Barry.  
"No, you were talking about either breaching us out of here or driving as far out of Central City as soon as possible! We're not doing it! We're going to stay here and fight!"  
"Gideon? What are our chances of success against the Overmaster?" Harry asked out loud.  
"Central City could be looking at the prospect of being wiped out within one day, DR Wells." Gideon replied.

"How does she know that?" Cisco asked, "Gideon, when were you built?"  
"Mr Allen began my creation in the year 2020." Gideon replied.  
"See? She's flawed!" Cisco said, with his high pitched tone. "She's talking nonsense… she's scared!"  
"Cisco, I thought you said that AI's didn't have feelings." Astrid replied, "Besides, Gideon never makes mistakes… regardless, we're going off topic. Barry, I need you to call Captain Singh, Joe, the mayor… get them to evacuate the entire city, immediately! Gideon, evacuate my employees, now!"

"Astrid, we can't just leave." Barry pleaded with her.  
"While I might sound a little like my mirrorverse self… I'm in favor for self-preservation." Cisco replied.  
"Barry. We have the chance to live a normal life." Caitlin pleaded. "If we get out of here, we can start somewhere fresh."

Astrid stared at Barry and then at her friends. The entire town was in darkness, their electricity was going down, it was only a matter of time before they lost their generators. They could be blown back to the stone age. When Astrid had read that woman's mind, she had seen all of these things.

"Barry, earlier on when you said what you said… You inspired me." Astrid began, "We've been through a lot, yet we continue to stand tall. But, Harry and Gideon are right. Our chances are slim. So, yeah, I'm terrified, right now! I saw it in that woman's mind, we're headed for destruction. Central City is my home, it's your home too. I'm not leaving it in the hands of aliens to wipe it out. I'm staying! Sorry, Cisco, Caitlin and Harry. You guys can go. But Barry and I are staying. Now evacuate the town, before things get a whole lot worse!" Astrid said. Barry pulled out his phone, ready to call Captain Singh and Joe.

"Astrid, no!" Caitlin pleaded.  
"Sutherland! What are you doing? Getting out of here would be the best option!" Harry snapped at her, "We never followed up on your father. He could be alive! You should use this time to get out there and find him!"  
"Harry. My father died back at Smallville! I killed the alien that had taken over his body! I was raised as a Sutherland, even if my biological father is still alive. I am going to stand here to protect my father's legacy. But no one's asking you to stay." Astrid told him.

Harry stormed into his office and yelled out over his shoulder. "I'm not leaving either! You'll have to pry me from my office first!"  
"Caitlin," Astrid continued, "Barry won't leave. You know that he won't, even without his powers. But he wouldn't want you to regret your own decisions."  
"I'm staying." Caitlin said after a moment, "You guys are going to need a doctor. And if all else fails, I know that Frost will put aside her anger for Harry to help." Astrid leant over and hugged Caitlin. Tears welled up in both of their eyes. "I love you, Snow!" Astrid said.  
"I love you, Astrid!" Caitlin sobbed back.

Through her tears, Astrid could see Cisco staring at her, from over Caitlin's shoulder. She ended her hug with Caitlin and approached him.  
There were tears in his eyes too. "Girl, You're making a stupid decision." He told her. "Do you really think that I am going to let you stay here and risk your life? We could leave town… I could breach us somewhere right now… Let's make it a romantic getaway… just you and me. We could even go and see the 'Lord of the Rings' scenery and meet Gandalf!"  
Astrid stared at him. "Cisco, there is no real Gandalf, you know that right? Anyway, I know that you don't want to stay. But you need to respect my wishes here. Yeah, it's a stupid decision. But a decision that I am making. I know the consequences."

Cisco wrapped his arms around her, as he began to cry. "I love you Jedi. I have been chasing you since high school. That's why I can't let you do this." He raised up his hand, ready to form a breach.  
She read his mind instantly and pulled his hand back down. "I'm not going, Cisco. I love you more than I have loved anyone. But if you need to go, go. I won't stop you."  
He shook his head, "I'm staying, too. But maybe I can rope in a little help."

When they separated, Cisco went to make a phone call and Barry was still sitting on the bed, holding Caitlin, there were tears in his eyes. "Singh is evacuating the town as we speak. I asked him to tell Joe. I couldn't bring myself to do it."  
"Barry, you should do it." Astrid said. "But, I think we're all staying… Maybe I can get Oliver to come and help. I haven't spoken to him since… well, you know. But at the same time, I shouldn't pull him into Central City's problems, especially considering he's the mayor of Star City."

"You wouldn't be pulling me into Central City's problems if I happened to showed up unannounced, now would you, Star?" Oliver's voice sounded amongst the silence. He was standing in the cortex with John Diggle. They had come to help. "We will not leave you to deal with this alone."


	6. Chapter 6

"Central City is in a world of darkness, just as you have asked of me." The woman in the black cloak, said as she spoke to her leader, known as the Overmaster.  
"Good girl. It will not be long, now. Have you any further news to share?"

"I do. It seems that we may have missed a few humans possessing exceptional gifts. A group of misfits consisting of a speedster, a telepath and a breacher. I don't know how we missed them before. They opposed me, though I managed to absorbed the kinetic energy from their speedster. He was wounded."  
"Well, it will only be a matter of time before he regenerates his powers, and they line against you. However, they could also prove useful to our cause. I arranged for your fellow comrades to be released from prison, take them and some others to meet with the misfits. Try to see if you can recruit them to our cause." The Overmaster replied.

"And if they oppose us?" she asked.  
"Kill them. Do not let them stand in our way!"  
"It will be done, sir!" she replied, and took her leave.

Back at STAR Labs, while Harry and Cisco ran through multiple theories to lure out the woman that could absorb light and kinetic energy, the rest of the group went in search for torches, candles and whatever else they could find, in preparation for the generators to stop working.

"I've managed to locate Ralph. He wasn't easy to find since he went underground." Harry told Cisco, "he should be here soon."  
"Good, the more the merrier." Cisco said glumly. "I'm beginning to lose track of time. I keep thinking it's nighttime… Nightfall! That's the perfect name for that woman… Everywhere she goes… Night falls."

"I don't think giving her a name is as important as trying to stop her right now, Ramon."  
"Yeah… but, it's all I can think about right now. My brains in the "we're all going to die" mode!" Cisco replied, staring at his computer screen aimlessly.  
"Shouldn't you be the one cracking jokes right now? Not being the pessimist?" Harry snapped at him.

Cisco jumped to his feet, "So, what? Now you're pissed at me because I'm not cracking jokes? I can never understand you! Hell, I don't even think that Astrid understands you, and she's a mind reading psychologist! Why did you even stay, if all you want to do is be angry at all of us?"  
"Ramon, I don't need to justify myself to you!" Dr Wells snapped back.

"I get it! The almighty Dr Harry Wells is scared. Don't be afraid to admit! I'll admit it… Frankly I'm one battle away from needing a fresh change of pants. We could lose everyone around us, and damn Astrid and Barry know that! Yet, they're still fighting to throw their lives away!"  
"Well, maybe you should have gotten her out of here. We could trick them all and breach them as far away as possible. Barry doesn't have his speed so we could get away with it!" Harry suggested it.

"You don't think I haven't thought of that? But I promised her, and I'm not going to break that promise. We're going to fight this thing until the very end. So why are you still here? Why did you stay?"  
"I already said that I'm not going to explain myself to you, Ramon." Harry replied as he continued to pace the floor with his tablet in his hand.  
"Because we're the family you never had, right?" Cisco pestered.

"For your information, Yes!" Harry snapped, "does that make you happy? The whole lot of you have gotten under my skin. Did you know that I lost my position as a World Walker? Yeah, I did, but I stayed… I kept up my charade to protect the lot of you. Because, I'm just too stupid to leave!"  
"Too stupid… or too human?" Cisco asked him. Harry glared and shook his head, he wasn't going to answer.

Suddenly, the lights and technology went out, all except for the appliances run by battery.

Astrid had gone down stairs, ensuring that each floor had been evacuated. She wore a backpack and in her hand she carried a torch. Oliver had offered to accompany her, to her   
annoyance. The lights had gone out all around them.  
Astrid raided a few of the storage cupboards and found supplies of matches, batteries, torches and candles. She even collected first aid kits, in case Caitlin needed them later.

"Are you going to speak to me, Star?" Oliver asked her. "You and Cisco are back together, I'm not here to destroy that."  
"Good, but we have nothing to talk about, here carry these for me, will you?" She said, handing him a couple of large torches that wouldn't fit into her bag. He took them and fit them into his own backpack

"Fine, be that way." He replied, walking away from her.  
"Why did you come, Ollie? You're the mayor of Star city, I'm certain that this is risking your position." Astrid said.  
"Because when the news begun reporting that there was a mysterious darkness spread throughout Central City, I thought… Well, I'm not letting my friends deal with that, alone." Oliver said calmly.  
"Friends? You and I haven't spoken in months."

"Yeah, because you can hold a grudge. But I still care about you. Just as I care about Barry… and yes, even Cisco." Oliver replied.  
"Thanks." Astrid replied, with a sigh. She gave him a quick hug and then let go of him, "Because right now, I'm scared. I don't know how we're going to do this. We need as many friends as we can get. I feel that they are just going to lure us out. We don't know what we're up against and they will have the upper hand over us."

"But the lot of you will be prepared. Sure, we're all in the dark right now… quite literally, and the odds are stacked against us, but that's never stopped us before… Remember those aliens back in Smallville? We defied the odds and you took the last kill. It's no different. Now, you're going to go back up those stairs and rally the troops. Because, while Barry might be the Flash, you're still the mind behind the operation."

"Barry's powers are a little out of order, right now. And I'm not exactly a scientist." Astrid replied.  
"Not where I was going, Star. Just get back up there and lead."  
"Alright. I hear ya. Let's go join the others." They filled their backpacks with enough supplies and went back up to the 97th floor.  
When they reached the cortex, they saw that their crusade had been joined by two extra people. Ralph Dibny, who Cisco was hell bent on calling Elongated man, as well as Batman.


	7. Chapter 7

Caitlin comforted Barry as he spoke to Joe on the phone. "Joe, I'm sorry. I can't have you, Iris or Wally here with me. This is going to be big." Barry spoke to his foster father.  
"I get that, son. But, I just can't watch you kids throw your lives away again for this city. You shouldn't be made to do that." Joe was clearly in tears, as he spoke.  
"We have no choice, if we don't do this, Central City will be destroyed. You need to go!"

"Barry, Central City is nothing more than a city. You're my kid. You're worth a whole lot more."  
"don't say that, Joe!" Barry was trying to hold back his own tears. "I need to go. I love you!" Barry said.  
"I love you too, Bar." Barry ended the call and sobbed into Caitlin's shoulder. The two of them were sitting in one of the empty offices. Fear and adrenaline took over them. He stopped sobbing and held Caitlin by the head, "I love you, Caitlin." He said, the two began kissing, passionately.

Harry, Cisco, Ralph, Batman, John Diggle, Oliver and Astrid gathered in the cortex, surrounded by torch and candlelight.  
"Okay, so we have our team!" Astrid announced, she looked over at Batman. "Are you sure that you're willing to work with a group of meta-humans? We know just how much you love our kind."  
"I'm here, aren't I?" Batman asked her, sternly, in return.

"So, the question is how do we stop the Overmaster who is willing to destroy Central City with an army at his fingertips?" Harry directed to the group.  
"I would suggest we ask Gideon… Who claims to be from the future and seems to have all the answers… But with no power to the system… That's not an option." Cisco said.  
"Harry, you seem to know a lot about The Overmaster… What are you hiding from us?" Astrid asked him.  
"As much as I would prefer to keep that to myself, I get that this isn't the time. The only other time that I knew of the Overmaster… He caused a lot of trouble, and there was only one team who were able to stop him."  
"One team?" Batman asked.

Harry shook his head he wasn't going to give that up. "The Overmaster not only recruits villains to do his work, he also has a variety of powers. One of them being Mind Control, He's also immortal." He looked over at Astrid as he spoke, who seemed unphased by this news.  
"Ok, chances are that he will send out his minions to do his dirty work… When they fail, he will come and finish the job. So, let's bring it on. We lure out his minions, we fight them. He will send out more… we fight them too. Then we will fight him and bring him down!" Astrid said.

"We need to be prepared." Oliver replied, "Dr Wells, you must know what we're up against. How do we stop these villains?"  
"I can create more anti-telepathic tech to stop the mind control. Fortunately, we have enough batteries." Cisco said.  
"But doesn't this… Nightfall… absorb energy? That includes kinetic energy. Just like the generators." Batman said. "Wouldn't she be able to use that against us?"  
"She could, but it's a risk that I'm willing to take. If they can get into our heads they can cause us to turn on each other… and I don't think our Jedi, here should be forced to remove the effects from the lot of us." Cisco replied.

"I agree." Oliver replied, "Do it, Cisco."  
"You guys… She's here!" Astrid said, "…and she's brought friends!" The group looked around them. Nightfall emerged from the darkness, and with her she was joined by Fastball, Crowbar and two other men and a woman in a bird suit

"Fastball." Cisco said with a cocky grin, noticing the man dressed in yellow, that he had fought a few months back, "Are you ready to play ball, again?"  
"Fastball? I like it, Vibe was it? You haven't met our other companions yet… Let me introduce you to the rest of our team, Shrike, Shatterfist and Black Mass." Fastball replied.  
The group stared at the group that stood beside Nightfall, the light was dim but not so dark that they couldn't see who they were up against.

Black Mass was a man of African-American descent who was clearly above 6ft and very muscly.  
Shatterfist was of Korean descent, he had horns protruding from his temples.  
While, Shrike was the woman dressed in the winged suit.

"Well, we've enlisted a little help too…" Cisco began.  
"Vibe, shh." John Diggle said. "If the lot of you want to fight… we will do this."  
"Sure, fine by me!" Fastball said, "Let's PLAY BALL!"


	8. Chapter 8

Within an instant, Astrid sent a crippling mind scream into the heads of their foes, distracting them for the moment. But as she did, gravity seemed to disappear all around them, making them all float upwards.

"What's going on here?" Oliver cried as the arrow that he had just released, flew off track and into the ceiling. "That Black Mass seems to have some sort of control over the gravity!" Ralph shouted as he was having problems controlling his limbs, which had stretched and were wobbling about like jelly.  
Batman used his remote control batarang and hit the man known as Black Mass, which broke his focus on the gravity, sending them all back on to the ground.  
"Batman, continue to focus on Black Mass!" Astrid cried, "We can't let him do that again!"

Fastball pelted metal balls in Vibe's direction. "Don't you ever learn?" Cisco shouted at him, disappearing into another breath and reappearing behind him again. He sent a blast into the back of Fastball knocking him into the computer.  
"You clearly don't learn, either!" Crowbar said from behind, swinging his flamed crowbar at Cisco.  
"Not today, Pal!" Ralph said, stretching his arms around Crowbar's legs and tripping him over.

"Wait… didn't we fight you back in Gotham, Rubber man?" Oliver remembered.  
"Yeah, you did… but now I've joined you guys!" Ralph explained.  
"You guys? Not now!" Astrid demanded at them.  
"Oh, that's right!" Ralph said, remembering the task at hand.

John Diggle was currently in hand to hand combat with Shatterfist. He pulled out his weapon on the horned man.  
"You should know the rules… you never bring a gun to a fist fight." Shatterfist said.  
"Let's watch you dance!" John snapped back, shooting at his feet.

Harry had retrieved his thermo gun and was shooting frozen bullets throughout the cortex. The woman in the bird costume, known as Shrike sent an ear piercing shriek at the team, distracting them all and knocking them off guard.  
"Doesn't she remind you of someone?" Oliver called out.

"Yeah… Black Canary!" Astrid called back. "Don't worry, I got her!" Astrid sent another mind scream, this time stronger, it brought the girl down to her feet.  
"These guys aren't staying down!" Cisco cried.

Suddenly, Nightfall threw a large blast of darkness in their direction, inhibiting their line on sight.  
Batman and Oliver shot hooks into the arches of the cortex, and glided above the fighting. Simultaneously shooting their targets from the roof.  
"Cisco, Ralph! Get the cuffs!" Astrid demanded, as she rolled out from under the blast of darkness. She sent another ear piercing mind scream into the minds of their enemies, bringing them all down.

Suddenly, Barry appeared onto the scene. His powers had returned and he cuffed their foes in place.  
"Where the hell were you!" Astrid demanded of him, "You seriously took your time!"  
Caitlin emerged from one of the offices, adjusting her hair, with a look of embarrassment on her face.

"Sorry, you guys," Barry said a little embarrassed. "We had no idea what was happening. But at least you guys had it covered… Who are these guys anyway?"  
"They work for the Overmaster!" Harry explained.  
"No, something's not right… that fight was too easy." John Diggle said, staring at the group.  
"I agree…" Batman added, "Where's your leader?"  
"These restraints don't dampen the use of our powers." Nightfall said coldly, deflecting the question. Her cloak was still shielding her face.

Astrid stepped towards her. "Answer his question! Where is your leader? Or I will get it from you, myself!"  
Nightfall refused to look Astrid in the eyes, so Astrid probed her mind. "You guys… the Overmaster has been testing us. He figured pitting us against his minions would test how useful we were." Astrid told them. The group looked at each other amongst the dim torch light.

Suddenly, the room went pitch black again. Nightfall had absorbed the power from the torch batteries currently in use, along with the Flash's speed, again. Batman held up a torch, the Cadre had disappeared from the Cortex.  
"Great!" Astrid said sarcastically as she lit up a candle. "Now what do we do?"  
"Well, Barry and Caitlin seemed to have the right idea!" Cisco joked, making their friends a little uncomfortable.  
"We come up with another plan!" Harry said ignoring Cisco's comment. "I'm guessing that the Overmaster took them. If he was testing our abilities, I'm guessing that he will be back with an offer of recruitment. We need to be ready."

"The city's been evacuated. It will be our perfect playing field." Batman said.  
Astrid looked over at Caitlin, "We may need Frost."  
"Astrid, are you sure that she's ready?" Caitlin asked her.  
"No, I'm not sure that she is. But we have no other options. But until then we leave her as a last resort. Now, let's get planning!"


	9. Chapter 9

Astrid stood in Harry's office doorway. He was currently working on his tablet before the battery went flat. "Any ideas, Harry?" she asked him.  
"If I had any ideas, aside from fleeing the city, you would be the first to know, but I don't Sutherland!" Harry said with anger in his tone.  
Astrid nodded and hesitated before she spoke again, "I know, that you know more about my father than you've been letting on. I read it in your mind before we went to Earth 2. But, before we die, I need to know what that secret was. What has DR Fate got to do with my real father?"

Harry went to lie, but he knew that there was no use. "I would like to say that our chances of surviving this were greater than I thought… but, I can't! So, I will tell you. Astrid, Kent Nelson is DR Fate. The same being that sent Barry back in time to save you both times. He was a brilliant doctor, that acquired a powerful helmet, which every time he puts it on turns him into this powerful being. He is an Agent for the Lords of Order."

"No! That's impossible!" Astrid tried to make sense of it all.  
"It's very possible. But it's not my story to tell. It's Kent's story, when you… if you get the chance to meet him." DR Wells said.  
"Does Barry know?" Astrid asked.

Harry remained silent, which annoyed her. She asked again, this time raising her voice. "Does Barry know that DR Fate is my father?"  
"Yes! Barry knows!" Harry said as a reaction. This news angered Astrid. She knew that she would deal with Barry later.  
"So, where is this DR Fate? If he's supposed to be my father and some special agent for the Lords of Order, shouldn't he be protecting us, right now? If he can help Barry change timelines, then why isn't he here to save us?"

"I don't know, Sutherland. I haven't heard from him in a while. But, I know that he would be here helping if he could."  
"Why? He's never really helped us before!" she snapped.  
"Sutherland, there's a lot that you don't know." Harry replied.

Astrid turned on her heels, but before she left, Harry added, "We might not have much time left. This could be our final battle together. One thing that I have learnt is that, there is an importance to saying what we feel. I am glad to have known you, Astrid Sutherland… you and the rest of the team. Even when things have been a little strained at the best of times."

Astrid turned to him, there were a few tears in his eyes. She didn't need to read his mind to know what he was thinking. "Likewise, Harry, and thank you."  
She stepped out of the office and back into the cortex. The instant that she saw Barry, anger struck her again. She stormed right up to him. "You knew!" she snapped.  
"Astrid, what's the matter?" Caitlin asked, confused by Astrid's anger towards the speedster.

Barry knew instantly why Astrid was mad at him. "I'm sorry, he asked me not to tell you. But, I should have told you, all those times that he was here and…"  
"What? He was here? When?" The rest of the group were watching their argument.  
Barry breathed, "a few times, actually. But he has this power to prevent you from sensing him."  
"I could have read your mind, millions of times, Barry! But I didn't, because I trusted you. I don't know why this stranger would tell you to hold this from me… You owed me this, Barry. If we survive this… I don't know if I will ever be able to trust you again!" she snapped.  
She stormed towards her office, as Barry called back, "Like I can't trust you after you told Captain Singh my secret."  
"Low blow, Barry. Low blow!" Cisco said shaking his head and running after his girlfriend.

Astrid went to slam the door of her office closed, but Cisco stopped her from doing so, as he walked in and held her in his arms. "I'm guessing that the two of you were arguing about your real father?" he asked her.  
Astrid nodded, as she held back her tears. "Kent Nelson, my real father, is Dr Fate." She replied.

"Wow… as in the guy that helped Barry get back to our timeline?"  
Astrid nodded again, resting her face into him.  
"Cisco, how are we going to do this?" she asked.

"Easy, we'll kick ass. I don't know how, but we will! Just like in the movies. Because we're the good guys… the good guys always win!"  
"This isn't a movie, Cisco." Astrid said quietly.  
"I know that. But, do you forget that I vibe the future? I mean I haven't received a vibe on how we win… but I've definitely seen things that make me believe that we will win. Do you know what I've seen?" he asked, looking down at her.  
She looked back up at him. "What have you seen?" she asked.

"I've seen us get married… It's a pretty cool wedding, clearly you planned it… and guess what, no one ruins it! I'm pretty sure we even have kids. Barry has kids too. He has twins."  
"Barry? With twins? Caitlin would hate that." Astrid laughed.  
Cisco shook his head softly. "We're not going to die today, Mind Marvel. It's not our time."

"So, I'll humor you, Vibe… if we win this thing. I'll forget the whole curse thing… You and I will do it. We'll get married, alright?"  
"Careful, Jedi… I might think that you're actually proposing to me… that's not how it's meant to go..." Cisco said with a smirk.  
"I'm being serious. When we win this, we get married. Call it an attempt to letting the heroes get their happy ending. Something to look forward to." Astrid said with a smile, that he could see within the torch light.  
"Alright, you're on!" he said smiling back. He closed the door, lifted her up and kissed her passionately, excited that they could succeed against the Overmaster.

Harry had been trying postpone the inevitable. Realistically, he was hoping that in doing so, DR Fate or even Constantine would come to their aid. Unfortunately, he knew that Constantine had other more pressing matters to deal with.  
However, he needed to stop and come up with something. He was not willing to let his friends die. He read over the letter that he had just written and placed it neatly in the middle of the desk. The battery to his tablet had gone out. Not that it mattered much, he hadn't been contacted from anyone outside of this earth in a while.

Harry got to his feet and stepped out of his office and into the cortex. The entire group were gathered there, all but Cisco and Astrid. But he figured it would be best to leave them be, after the anger that he had heard Astrid spew at Barry, in relation to DR Fate.  
"Allen, do you have your speed back?" Dr Wells asked.  
"Not yet, but It's slowly regenerating. Why? Do you have a plan?" Barry asked him.

"Somewhat. We need to lure them out. We're going to need portable generators and I'm also thinking a spotlight." Harry said.  
"I may be able to help with an idea on that." Batman chimed in.  
"Good, because this is going to be all hands on deck."


	10. Chapter 10

After a few hours of getting everything planned and ready, the group stood out in the street, equipped with neuro-blocking gear, walkie-talkie communicators and dressed in their suits.

"Alright, We're going to need two groups!" Astrid said. "Flash, you will lead the second team, you guys will need to stay hidden as much as possible. Your team will need you to transport them asap if things get rough, while Vibe can breach my group if the need arises."  
"Sounds good. Who's going with who?" Barry asked her.

"I can bring our World Walker with us, I would prefer if we kept him and Frost separate from each other. So Caitlin, you will need to go with Flash. You guys are also going to need firepower, so Diggle can watch your backs. That just leaves Green Arrow, Batman and Elongated Man."  
"Star… I'm willing to fight by your side." Oliver said.  
"Ralph?" Astrid asked, looking at the Elongated man.

"I'm not so sure that I'm all that confident being on the front line." Ralph replied, "I hope you don't mind, but I'll stick with Barry... ahem... the Flash. But hey… I can always give you a hand if you need it… even from across the street." Cisco laughed at Ralph's joke.  
"Batman?" Astrid asked.  
"I'll go where I'm needed." He replied, sending a grappling hook up into a nearby building and disappearing.

"Alright, let's do this!" Astrid said. Before Barry left, he grabbed her by the arm.  
"If anything happens, despite our differences. You're still one of my best friends. Don't forget that." Barry told her.  
"You too, Flash. Now, go!" Astrid demanded of him. He left, taking his group with him.

Astrid, Cisco, Oliver and Harry stood in the middle of the darkened abandoned street. Harry moved the spotlight, letting it flicker across buildings. Cisco checked on the generators. Oliver readied his bow, and Astrid scanned the street for any mental activity.  
"Are you sure this is going to work, Harry?" she asked.  
"I never said I was sure. It was just the only idea I could come up with at the time." Harry replied.  
"Do you want me to go with plan b? The B meaning Breach?" Cisco asked.

"Just a minute," Astrid said. She felt a mental presence. The Overmaster was around, but she couldn't locate him. So she sent him a message using her mind. 'You want people with exceptional abilities? Well, you saw us in action… Leave your men, and come and face us yourself.' She was taunting him.  
"Did you really think you could fool me, child?" The voice of the Overmaster spoke out into the street, he had arrived. He was accompanied by his follower Nightfall.  
"Mind Marvel, we found their friends." She heard Barry say through his communicator. "Don't worry, we'll take them out."

Harry and Oliver readied their weapons and Cisco readied his hands, as Astrid stood and faced the Overmaster before them. He was huge and wore a blue and red battle suit with a yellow face mask with Blue horns. They could not see his true form.  
"You cannot begin to fathom why I have come." His voice boomed down at them.  
"I'm pretty certain it has something to do with wanting to destroy civilizations and recruiting people with exceptional gifts." Astrid said.  
"Don't make him mad, Star!" Oliver said from under his breath.

"The thing is, you're trying to take over my city." She continued to be as cocky as she could, "I won't let it go without a fight. You may have noticed that I am a telepath. You know, I can compel people's minds and all, right?"  
"Yes, another telepath would make for a brilliant asset." The Overmaster said.  
"Oh, no… I'm not done yet… I also recently learnt that I can absorb certain amounts of telepathic energy and reverse effects… that's also pretty cool." Astrid said with a smile.  
"Stupid child, why are you telling me this?" he asked.

"Because… Do you see your little friend there? Nightfall is what we have been calling her… She also has the gift to absorb certain energies… and you seem to possess a great deal of it… I've actually mind controlled her to do so with yours. I've just been distracting you, while she does so…"  
The moment the Overmaster realized what was happening, he sent a large wave of energy that threw everyone backwards, including Nightfall.  
"Now, Vibe!" Astrid demanded.  
He breached himself over to Nightfall, opened a breached behind her and pushed her in.  
"Hey," Cisco said, "Why's it still dark?"  
"It's nine o'clock at night!" Oliver answered him back.

Harry ran towards the Overmaster with his thermo gun at the ready. "She absorbed a great deal of your energy didn't she… but we have no idea where we just breached her!"  
The Overmaster glared at Harry angrily. "You will suffer for what you have done."  
Harry set the dial of his thermo gun up to the max, shooting two thick blasts of hot flame and ice in to the Overmaster's direction.  
The Overmaster set off a large projectile of energy back at Harry. It was strong enough to send him flying back into the window of a building.  
"Vibe! Go check on him!" Astrid demanded, as she and the Green Arrow ran towards the Overmaster. They were joined by Batman. The three of them began their attacks on to the celestial being.

Cisco breached over to Harry. He found the man in a pile of glass, entirely cut up. He knew that there was no way to save him. "Hey jerk… we need to get you to Caitlin, now!" Cisco demanded of him.  
"Ramon… don't be stupid… Caitlin won't be able to do anything. Look where the glass is… We both know that it's a vital artery." The glass had sliced through his leg and he was bleeding out, fast.

"Harry, you're being a dick! You need to listen to me. Stop being so stubborn, we'll help you!" Cisco said, getting ready to breach the two of them to Caitlin.  
"Ramon… now, who's being stubborn? Take my thermo gun. It's yours. I'm glad that I met the lot of you. Look after them for me?" Harry demanded of him.  
Cisco couldn't stop the tears from falling from his eyes. "As much as I hate you… You've almost been just as much of a father to me as Robert was."  
"You too, but as in a son... and Ramon? I have you to blame for me liking movies." Harry said, he attempted to laugh, but gasped instead.

Cisco was brought back to one of their first decent conversations. Harry liking Twizzlers, Big Belly Burger, but not being a big fan of movies.  
Cisco smiled at DR Wells, as the man closed his eyes. "I told you, I'd be able to work with that!" Cisco said. He wiped away his tears with his sleeve.  
Then, as Harry had requested, Cisco took his thermo gun and breached back towards where the Overmaster was fighting his friends.

The four of them continued to attack the Overmaster. Mind Marvel with her mind scream. Vibe, Batman and the Green Arrow with their weapons.  
Astrid looked over at Cisco as if to ask where Harry was. But Cisco only shook his head sadly and sent a large blast from the thermo gun at the alien.  
"Flash. We need help!" Astrid demanded, "The World Walker is dead!"

Barry was there in a flash, and angrily began to attack the beast. But even with all their might, it didn't seem to be working. His energy blasts were far too strong. The latest blast of energy sent them all crashing into a wall, behind them. The Overmaster walked towards them. He knew that he had won.  
Mind Marvel, Flash, Batman, The Green Arrow and Vibe waited for the final blast to come. Neither one of them could move, it was as if they were all paralyzed.  
They waited for the final blast to come, not daring to look away, at least they had gone down fighting with all their strength. From a nearby walkie talkie they heard that the other team had become overwhelmed, they needed help.

Suddenly the streets lit up like magic. Floating in front of them all, was a man dressed in a blue and gold suit, complete with a gold cape and a gold helmet. "It's DR Fate!" Barry exclaimed.  
"That's DR Fate?" Astrid asked, as she watched the man in blue and gold take on the Overmaster. He shot the first gold blast, which got the Overmaster's attention, and pulled him away from the group. The blast resembled a familiar Egyptian symbol.

Then, with one large golden blast of energy, that DR Fate shot forth from his hands, the Overmaster disappeared before their eyes. The group were amazed at how quick he had been taken down.  
DR Fate looked over at them. His gaze was on Astrid. She got to her feet and approached the man slowly. He landed on the ground studying her.  
"Kent Nelson, I'm assuming?" Astrid asked him.

The man shook his head and spoke with an echoing voice. "No, my name is DR Fate." He raised his hands to his helmet and lifted it off his head, revealing a man of about fifty with dark blonde hair with some greys, and a masculine version of Astrid's own face. His voice was normal, as he said, "…But I am Kent Nelson."


End file.
